Volcanos In Philippines

Mayan Volcano in Bicol
on the island of Luzon.

Pyroclastic Flow from Mt Pinatubo 1991

Volcanoes In the Philippines

The Philippine Islands are located in "The Ring of Fire" around the Pacific Ocean. At present we are living at an altitude of about 750 feet in a subdivision on the side of the ancient Taal volcano. We are not concerned about tsunamis. We are nearly 25 kilometers from the current Taal Volcano which is on an island in the center of the caldera of the ancient volcano. It is currently emitting gas clouds thousands of feet up in the air (Feb 2024).

Taal acted up a few years ago and spewed volcanic ash  into the air for a few days. The wind carried it over a great area. Ash fell on our house for a couple of days, just a little not a lot. We swept it off the sidewalk. It was so heavy it took two men to lift a small bag onto a truck.

When Mt Pinatubo erupted in the 1990's it buried lawns of homes, in and around the Clark Freeport Zone of Pampanga, in several feet of ash. Angeles City, Olongapo, Tarlac and many other cities were affected by ash. Ash even fell on the Greater Manila Area.

I talked with a man at a jeepney stop in the Clark Freeport Zone and he recalled how the sky turned black, he had been waiting at the same spot and he thought "This is it. It's all over now." He survived. It happened that the director of the Philippines volcanology department was hesitant to issue evacuation orders affecting thousands of people but made an educated guess, based on the data he had, and finally ordered a large area to evacuate. Well, his order resulted in saving a great many lives. 

If you have an aversion to exploding volcanos, you may want to live a hundred miles or more away from one. It may be hundreds of years between eruptions, but one never knows. Warnings are announced when volcanos start becoming active. So, if you buy or build a house "you pays your money, you takes your chances." Some houses get buried by Lahars. Choose your location carefully or just "fuggitaboutit" and go happily about your life! Like Filipinos do.

Check these lower cost types of home construction in the Philippines.

Keep these things ready to go at all times.

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This post will be expanded upon. Check back for more information about volcanos in the Philippines. Updated February 11, 2024.